


For Destruction, Ice is also great (and would suffice)

by yaboi_deicide



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dubious Morality, Manipulation, Not Canon Compliant, Tsuna is not happy, Unhealthy Relationships, Xanxus/Tsuna if you squint i suppose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 08:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7750327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaboi_deicide/pseuds/yaboi_deicide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The person the Ninth froze was not the same person who came out once the ice melted. Tsuna bears the unintended consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Destruction, Ice is also great (and would suffice)

**Author's Note:**

> http://khrmeme.tumblr.com/post/142518563882/prompt-xanxus-came-back-wrong-horror  
> the prompt which i liked so i decided to write a fic instead of a drabble. Title comes from Robert Frost's poem, Fire and Ice
> 
> Some say the world will end in fire,  
> Some say in ice.  
> From what I’ve tasted of desire  
> I hold with those who favor fire.  
> But if it had to perish twice,  
> I think I know enough of hate  
> To say that for destruction ice  
> Is also great  
> And would suffice.

The first time he hears the name Xanxus is also the first time he realizes how far the claws of the mafia have hooked themselves into him.

He had a feeling, a premonition with Mukuro but Tsuna had grown up with a mother who pretended everything was okay even when it wasn’t. Apples don’t fall far from the tree after all. But the Varia were hard to ignore. An assassination squad, an actual assassination squad who wanted to challenge him for rings he didn’t want. It was strangely noble and very frustrating and Tsuna would have willingly thrown the rings at them if he wasn’t’ sure Reborn would have tied him up and never let him out of his sight after stopping him.

Better a temporary freedom than a permanent restraint.

So his ‘guardians’ and the Varia fight, Nono is revealed and they try to frame him for attempted assassination. And then, that’s when things get weird.

“Without a Sky representative, the Varia are automatically disqualified. Varia leader Xanxus is still imprisoned. Unless you wish to submit another possible candidate, of which no one else is eligible, this battle is void.” The Cervello had announced and although they had looked murderously mutinous, the Varia retreated.

Tsuna’s relieved that it’s over even at the cost of his official recognition. It’s weird that the Varia had come all the way when they didn’t have a viable representative though.

“They grossly underestimated you,” Reborn says quietly when he dares to ask, “They assumed they could crush your guardians and then the rings would have gone to them automatically. Xanxus would have to be freed then because by right of ascension he gets a try at the ring. Be careful, Dame-Tsuna, you just made a formidable enemy.”

Honestly, by this point, Tsuna’s kind of used to it. And that’s the last Tsuna hears of the Varia for a long time.

Not. Well technically, it’s been almost a decade for them. For Tsuna, it’s been less than a week when Tsuna’s catapulted into an apocalyptic future, eating breakfast as he tries to process everything when Yamamoto finds him, Superbi Squalo sharp on his heels with murder on his face.

“Brat, you need the Varia to help you,” he says, slamming a hand down on the table, “You need our help and we’ll give it to you. For a cost.”

“What cost?” Tsuna asks after swallowing his mouthful of cereal because Squalo’s right. He’s basically in an apocalyptic future with resources stretched thin, any help—much less good Varia help, would be enough to extend Vongola’s lifespan. He’s half-expecting Squalo to grin—bloodthirsty and vicious but he doesn’t. His face is grim, lips drawn tight and eyes with as much desperation as anger. There’s a prickle, a sharp pain at the junction between his neck and head. He knows this feeling. The Estraneo, the Bovino, the Vongola, all the different ways the mafia have screwed people over and now Tsuna’s about to find out another one.

“Free our boss. Please.” Squalo says through gritted teeth, the please almost an afterthought.

“Okay,” Tsuna says without a second thought because the mafia is almost never the victim, only the perpetrator.

“Tell me everything.”

Squalo tells him.

“ _How_ long has he been trapped in ice?”

“17 years and 11 months.”

Tsuna closes his eyes for a moment and pretends the mafia doesn’t exist. It’s a nice feeling. Trapped in ice for near eighteen years, trapped by your own father figure in a prison unique to the bloodline you so coveted. Perhaps Nono was being merciful at the time but Tsuna half suspects it’s meant to be an example to any who think of betraying him. Tsuna knows this now, you can’t become the _capo di tutti capi_ by being kind after all. And death, is sometimes the most merciful thing you can give.

“Let me gather up my guardians and then we’ll leave. Better to do it fast before anyone tries to stop us.” Tsuna says, sighing.

Tsuna says guardians but he really means Yamamoto, Gokudera and Chrome because anyone else is too noisy or too bloodthirsty and on a stealth mission, neither trait is desirable. Tsuna doesn’t know the full details of the plan (which Reborn would have his head for) but he does know that the Varia are competent enough to carry out the most important mission of their lives. The main Varia squad is if nothing, loyal to death. They’re also the ones ‘guiding’ him to the room, and it’s unnerving how quiet they are. No snide comments, no weird random laughter—just silence as they march their way through the underground network of tunnels. It feels like an execution squad, will probably be his if he harms Xanxus in any way.

“Why are there no guards?” Gokudera asks after a long stretch of silence.

“Busy. Not as if anyone can open the door anyway.” Squalo’s answer is curt and technically, only three people can enter the room that houses Xanxus— Nono, his father, and…him. His father is loyal to Nono and either everyone is too busy with Millefiore or no one expects him to want to save someone who’s people tried to frame him for assassination. Probably both.

Finally, they come to a metal door. It’s average looking if not for the lack of a door knob of any kind, there’s a small hole instead where a door knob would be with a bottom protruding edge. Squalo hands him a knife and carefully, Tsuna cuts at the underside of his arm. Before the blood can spill, he holds his arm to the edge. The red drips slowly into the hole but soon enough, a whirring sound emits from the door. Tsuna steps back and lets Gokudera bandage his arm. With a click, the door opens.

They step in. The room is small, Xanxus taking up most of the space. It’s not cold. Somehow, Tsuna thought it’d be freezing. He takes a step forward, then another and another until he’s right in front of Xanxus. It feels like tunnel vision, the room narrowing to the suspension of Xanxus looking so much younger than Squalo and the rest. He does not look peaceful, there is a harshness in the youthful set of his face, a violence in his stillness. Tsuna puts on his gloves and pops a pill into his mouth. The pill clanks against his teeth as he swirls it around, his hands rest gently against the ice by Xanxus’ shoulders.

Tsuna bites down.

He feels the rush of flames, the rush of freedom. They erupt from his hands and bath Xanxus orange. The ice ripples with the hues of a sunset, a sunrise. The ice retreats and Tsuna lets the flames die away.

Xanxus, whole and free, stands there. His eyes open, for a moment, their eyes meet.

The hair on the back of his neck stands and Tsuna freezes even as Xanxus sways, collapsing into his outstretched arms. Tsuna staggers back but grips Xanxus tightly. He’s warm, Tsuna realizes, disconcerted by the lack of cold. Xanxus shifts in his arms and something—his hand touches the back of Tsuna’s neck before he grows completely still. Still warm though, almost hot.

“BOSS!” A voice shouts, the outside world snaps back into focus. The thundering footsteps, the raised voices, the gentleness of the Varia as they take Xanxus away.

“We gotta go,” Someone says and everything is a blur after that. They get out, Xanxus is taken away by the Varia and Tsuna returns to whatever his life is now. Rumours of the Varia’s boss return spread through what’s left of the mafia underground and Tsuna catches Reborn looking at him speculatively but since he never says anything, Tsuna doesn’t ask. Tsuna fights, his guardians fight, Vongola fights.

Then, Byakuran is dead.

It’s so anticlimactic; the bad guys dead or captured, the good guys win, the future rewritten.

The future rewritten…but not the past. Tsuna jerks and rolls off the bed, he’s still not quite used to his room and it jars him when he opens his eyes to the familiar-unfamiliar ceiling. His head throbs from the fall but also from the mess this whole, _his_ whole timeline is in. His guardians remember, Reborn remembers, but do the Varia? Does Xanxus? The answer doesn’t matter, not really, because Tsuna’s not about to leave anyone trapped in ice for another day, let alone ten years.

The Varia helped him in the future and even if they hate his guts now, they might be able to tolerate him enough not to assassinate him in the future. Tsuna has to plan ahead, and leaving their boss trapped while he could have freed him is a death sentence in itself. He doesn’t want this godawful, mafia cursed life but he doesn’t quite want to die either. Tsuna will make do, he always does.

Tsuna’s plan is relatively simple. One, wait for the holidays and somehow push Reborn to bring him to main Vongola headquarters in Italy. Two, free Xanxus. It’ll definitely be harder than the first time without a war distracting everyone and no Varia ‘honor guard’ to accompany him. He’ll have some of his guardians though, and hopefully that’ll be enough. Gokudera’s already coming up with ways to push Reborn and Yamamoto’s been training harder, they’ve all been actually. The war still feels close at their heels even if it’s over and Tsuna’s been following the training plan Reborn set for him. He feels like puking blood after every training session but he still follows it.

It’s been a week since Reborn got temporarily recalled to Italy and Tsuna’s not quite sure if he’s relieved or not. He’s definitely worried, however, because Tsuna doesn’t trust a single facet of the mafia. The bright side is, he can plan without having to worry about Reborn snooping around. Well, mostly, the man’s spies are still around but it’s easier without him physically here.

And then, all of Tsuna’s plans are made useless.

“Italy,” Tsuna says flatly, “me, my guardians—going to Italy.”

“You’ve proven yourself, for the most part,” Reborn says, sipping his espresso, “Nono is pleased and wishes for you to familiarize yourself with your future home.”

Tsuna’s ignores the insinuation of his looming ascension to Decimo with learned ease. There’s a formality about Reborn that clues him in on his uneasiness. Something happened. Something that required his immediate recall and offset him badly.

“Nono…also wishes to celebrate the homecoming of his adopted son, Xanxus, who will be resuming his duties as Varia head.”

Tsuna freezes. Xanxus is free? But how? Tsuna wants to know—badly, but Reborn is staring at him shrewdly and he’s given too much of a reaction.

“Oh,” he says for lack of anything else. Silence settles, even Reborn’s sipping is noiseless and Tsuna shifts uncomfortably in his chair.

“I will inform Mama,” Reborn finally deigns to say after a long moment, “and you better prepare yourself, Dame-Tsuna, the training facilities there are much more sophisticated than the ones I have on hand.”

He cocks his Leon-gun and smirks, Tsuna fakes a shriek and pretends to panic just to keep the mood up. When he leaves to tell Mama, Tsuna settles on his bed and stares up at the ceiling. Things have gotten complicated again.

The days pass in a blur and suddenly, Tsuna is at Vongola Mansion meeting Nono again. He is as warm as before, still kind and very much acting like his grandfather. Maybe it’s an act, maybe it’s mostly not, Tsuna resents him still for forcing this position onto him. No matter, Tsuna still listens to him, still smiles and nods at appropriate places because he can feel eyes judging him and what Tsuna wants is to _survive_.

His hands feel cold. Tsuna blinks in confusion, rubbing his hands together discretely. They feel fear-cold, the kind where all the blood recedes all at once and his skin is slightly numb. Tsuna is fine though, a little nervous and unsettled, but hardly afraid.

“Ah,” Nono sounds almost nervous for a split second but Tsuna is more distracted by the figure entering the room.

“And this is my son, Xanxus. He says he’s been looking forward to meeting you.” That must be a lie, Tsuna decides, even if Xanxus remembers the future, he wouldn’t look forward to meeting him. Xanxus looks exactly the same as the future-past, even has the same intimidating aura as he leans against the doorframe.  Tsuna isn’t standing by the table anymore, he’s in front of it. He must have taken a few steps forward without even noticing and Xanxus walks closer until Tsuna has to tilt his head up to look at him.

Their eyes meet.

He raises his hand and Tsuna already tense muscles tense further. His fingers press lightly against the side of Tsuna’s neck but they burn all the same. Tsuna represses a shiver, his own fingers feel numbingly cold as he curls them into a loose fist. The burn is there for a second but it settles bone deep all the same.

“Sawada,” Xanxus nods, hand back to his side and turns away, leaving without another word.

The room is deathly silent in his wake and all Tsuna is sure of anymore is that Xanxus probably remembers. He’s not sure if it’s a good or bad thing yet.

(the touch burns like acid)

**Author's Note:**

> Will try to update soon, the middle is somewhat written and I have an actual plan so it might go a bit faster. 
> 
> As you can tell, canon divergence with Xanxus never being melted until TYL and future arc Tsuna. Xanxus is ??? not quite a nice person and Tsuna will not be having a good time. It's not a pairing because I don't see it that way but it might get into weird grey territory later on so warning for that I suppose. 
> 
> also, the timeline sorta confuses me so if i make any mistakes, feel free to correct me. Thanks


End file.
